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The Pyramid Age

After the triumphant success of the First Dynasty, the Second Dynasty was less successful. It appears to have been a period of unrest although order and unity appear to have been restored by the last and best known of the pharaohs, Khesekhemwy. He is the last pharaoh to have been buried at Abydos in one of the largest tombs, the first where the central burial chamber is made of stone rather than mud brick, thus marking the first stage towards the construction of the stone pyramids.

The decisive step forward that marks Egypt out as being one of the greatest empires that the world has ever seen comes in the Third Dynasty with the construction of the Step Pyramid by Djoser (Zoser). This is a very much larger structure than had been built anywhere in the world up to that time, and marked a whole new degree of complexity in Egyptian society.